Electronic equipment racks commonly consist of rectangular or box-shaped housings sometimes referred to as a cabinet or a rack. Electronic equipment is commonly mountable in such racks so that the various electronic devices are aligned vertically one on top of the other in the rack. Often, multiple such racks are oriented side-by-side, with each containing numerous electronic components and having substantial quantities of associated component wiring located both within and outside of the area occupied by the racks.
Power distribution units have long been utilized to supply power to the equipment in such racks, to remotely monitor and control the electronic equipment in such racks, and the supply of power to the power distribution unit. One particularly common such power distribution unit consists of an elongated box housing that has one or more power inputs and a number of power outputs extending along the longitudinal face of the unit. This power distribution unit is designed to mount vertically adjacent or secured to the external rear side of the rack. Typically, this power distribution unit is mounted to the exterior of a rear side of the rack. In this fashion, the power supplied to the unit is then distributed through horizontally extending power outputs to the horizontally co-aligned electronic components mounted in the rack.
An example of such a prior power distribution unit is shown in FIG. 1 and is sold under the trademark “Power Tower” by Server Technology, Inc., of Reno, Nev. FIG. 2 shows this prior art Power Tower power distribution unit secured to the outer edge of a generally rectangular rack to supply power to electronic components mounted within the rack.
Generally, power distribution units have been designed to be mounted in one particular rack configuration of the multiple configurations that are typically available. This can be inconvenient for users of power distribution units. For example, users who change from one type of rack to a different type of rack must often obtain new power distribution units that can be mounted in the new racks. This can be very expensive and time consuming. Because of the different mounting requirements, manufacturers typically must make, and suppliers must stock, separate power distribution units for each type of rack configuration. This can be very inefficient.
An example of a prior art power distribution unit designed for a particular mounting configuration is a power distribution unit made by American Power Conversion Corp. (APC) shown in FIGS. 3–5 that is designed to be mounted in only one type of rack, which is also made by APC. APC's rack is shown in FIGS. 6–10. The APC unit has mounting disks or pegs, e.g., 20, 22, secured to the outer periphery of the back side of the APC unit. These mounting disks or pegs 20, 22 slidably mount in mating slotted disk mounting apertures, e.g., 24, 26, in the rearward portion of the side of an APC rack (see FIGS. 8 and 9).
The APC power distribution unit is therefore slidably mounted on or adjacent the rear side of the APC rack and remains slidably removable from the APC rack. The APC unit can be unintentionally jolted out of position on the APC rack by upward and downward movement of the rack, such as by accidental contact of an operator with the APC unit or in an earthquake of moderate intensity.
As noted above, the APC unit is not generally designed to be mounted to racks other than those made by APC, that is, racks having slotted apertures for receiving the mounting pegs of the APC power distribution unit. Similarly, the APC racks are typically not designed to accept power distribution units other than those made by APC. In addition, the APC units do not include fuses or circuit breakers that are accessible without removing the unit from a rack and opening the housing of the unit.